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It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

With all those (accidentally) minimized gadgets and plans, this movie is quite unusual. It is also not a very common practice (albeit not very unusual) that the director seems really willing to refrain himself from speaking through his movie. He wants the movie speaks for itself. And here, it does.Nevertheless, its not that easy to grasp what this movie is really trying to say.Let's try to take a good look at one piece of the puzzle.The adopting parents bring the little girl to a traditional market (that's what the story goes) so that she will not be removed from her root. Then we see the market.Now that is Beautiful (capitalization intended). This invaluable (local) 'collective awareness' about one's own identity is one too many times proved to be some 'intangible' (that is, somehow out of reach) idea to its own stakeholders (the very people who need it most). And here we see a couple (some outsiders) who care.But hey, where is the little girl? We see the market alright, but not the girl. Yes, we see her in the protective comfort (and luxury, if we consider the environment) of a starred hotel's restaurant (?), in the car, or even on aeroplane. But not in that so called market they're talking about.This 'eyebrow-raising beauty' is, in a way, somewhat loosening the movie's grip on truthfulness--assuming that it does really matter here (please, I'm NOT implying that anybody is being cheaty, I'm only saying what this fragment MIGHT look like--presented this way). We see that somewhere--sometimes, the movie relies too much on hearsay or telltale. So, even if the motifs might be remarkable, the execution (that is, the filming) is ARGUABLY not.Interestingly, this could come from the fact that Kiarostami doesn't want to film a made-up thing (not even for the movie's own good). He wants to be sincere, and he's sticking to it. As we know, he's not really directing anything here (if at all, although we can see and assume that he did ask questions sometimes). He's more like snapshotting. He's not wandering around telling people what to do and then shoot'em (while they're still carrying out what he ask them to). No, he just shoot'em. He goes somewhere and shoot what he encounters--people or not (well, mostly people, mind you).Look again. Kiarostami shot the couple mentioning about the market, then he went to the aforementioned(?) market and shot--in his own time frame. KEYPOINT: he didn't ask the couple to reenact the situation, for that would've taint the truthfulness of this movie (see the paradox?).So that's the language of the camera here. It just shoots people, not performers. It avoids setups, everything is real-time (act or say).And it wants to stay that way, no matter what. Even if it could (or would) cost the movie's own integrity (like the 'eyebrow-raising beauty' mentioned above).And if that is really the case, then this 'odd couple of honesty' (the story of the adopting parents on one scene and the market without the girl on another--where both parts are so consistent with but not supportive to each other up to the degree that the outcome seems lack of integrity) is, indeed, intriguing.But then again, what is this part of the movie really trying to say here?--Pity? Sympathy? Help sure is handy? (Again, no offense intended, please) Yes, there are other (good) shots as well (you bet) like, a little girl's struggling for life while a (way bigger) boy make fun of her (with his friends cheering thinking they're having a good time), or that daring 'shooting the darkness' (this time we can take it literary).Still, where (or what) do all these tours de force take (or bring) us? How do all those pieces fit in the big picture? Come to think of it, what is the big picture, anyway? War? AIDS? Uganda? Africa? How a mismanaged (or lack of) national policy keep wreaking havoc upon its own people? Parentless children's life? The struggle of some people to help their youths? Life is good? Everybody should glimpse some hope of a better tomorrow? (Everybody? Who? People who see this movie from a safe distance and do not have THAT problem?) Chance is, there is none. Chance is, the director hasn't made up his mind yet (on what he was about going to say). He MIGHT even haven't had a pretty good idea what the big picture really is, yet (maybe that's why the title). He's just snapshotting--collecting pieces (and they don't have to fit all together to a single idea because it just so happens that he hasn't sorted them out yet).So if the whole idea of ABC is collecting some information for the UN, then the latter seems (at the very least) having a fair trade. Or if it's supposed to make some pretentiously-shallow-CGI-addict Hollywood movie makers blush, this flick might just do the kick. But if ABC is supposed to be a wake-up call to the Ugandans (or most Africans) that they really need to help THEMSELVES because nothing else really counts (not in the long run anyway), then this movie doesn't look very promising.With ABC, many (more) people will respect the directing snapshooter and put him on their mandatory list. But not as many will--quite understandably, give the movie similar credit.

I read the reviews to this movie: some of them reproach to Kiarostami that he missed to depict the real situation, that his view was superficial. I think these reviews missed actually the point. Kiarostami has never pretended to explain the universe he was filming. He gave only, in all honesty, a strict account on what he witnessed, nothing more. It's his truth, nothing but his truth, anything more would be hypocrisy.It is the style from all his movies: letting each new situation encountered to develop on its own. There is something new here, truly revolutionary: using the tiny video camera gives total freedom to anything, spontaneity becomes fully unrestricted. Spontaneity and interactivity: the kids are playing with the camera, inventing games and dances, like all kids from any place on Earth.And so ABC Africa marks one of the most important moments in the history of cinematography: the hand-held video camera throws away any conventions and liberates personages and places from the tyranny of the scenario, and ultimately from the tyranny of the director.

This is a documentary shot at the request of a group of Ugandan women to publicise their mission to educate the AIDS and war orphans that would otherwise become a lost generation. The crew went to Uganda to shoot pilot footage using the smallest JVC mini-dv cameras intending to return with film cameras later, but the footage they took and the film that emerged from it is so unique that they felt the moment could never be recaptured. All Kiarostami's usual concerns with film form are put to the service of an enquiry into the relationship between film maker and subject without ducking uncomfortable questions about power and meeting of cultures. Released the same year as Black Hawk Down this film not only shows a side of Africa completely erased by Hollywood, it is a blueprint for a completely new approach to documentary. The comment that the best thing about the film is the format massively misses the importance and uniqueness of this film.

The best thing that can be said about "ABC Africa" is that its making is a victory for digital format of shooting films.When a film maker of Abbas Kiarostami's stature decides to shoot a documentary film on Africa using his tiny digital video camera in some way this gesture gives credibility to the belief that digital video is going to be adopted by many more leading filmmakers in the years to come. Kiarostami has been able to shoot some of the most incredible shots including one that was filmed in darkness. As far as this film is concerned the best lesson that can be learned is that of hope,joy and happiness. Who in this world can remain unaffected when he/she is having a glimpse of impoverished African children who are full of joy and radiance on their faces despite finding themselves encircled in a world of misery.There is also an element of sadness as according to the visuals shot by Kiarostami,Uganda like other African countries has lot of greenery, nature and natural resources.But as the large part of the entire African continent is ruled by military leaders and dictators,it is hard to even assume that common people can find some relief from hunger,famine,wars and tragedies.Kiarostami has filmed ABC Africa in a cinema vérité manner. This is the reason why the entire film appears as non partial.Lastly it must be stated that despite being harsh in tone,this film offers substantial amount of optimism in the form of adoption of an orphaned baby girl.The best thing to watch in this film : A song called Sanga Lo, Sanga Lo which appears too often.